Val McDermid was assigned ‘sensitivity reader’ to cut offensive language from old books
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Crime writer Val McDermid revealed she was assigned a sensitivity reader to revise potentially offensive language from her older Lindsay Gordon novels before republication. The books, written in the 1980s and 90s, contained racial and homophobic slurs reflecting attitudes of the time. McDermid argued against altering her previous work to align with modern sensibilities, stating it was dishonest, but conceded on a few points related to race. She believes older texts are important for understanding societal progress and how much attitudes have changed. McDermid expressed amusement rather than offense at the assignment, acknowledging that while her characters wouldn't behave the same way today, rewriting past work is unnecessary.
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